ActBlue/WinRed Data Show Men Outgiving Women in Election 2026

Data from party-aligned digital fundraising platforms show that men are outgiving women in 2026 political donations, according to new analysis from the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. CAWP has previously reported that men are giving the majority of funds contributed to congressional candidates; today’s analysis brings in additional small-dollar data from fundraising platforms ActBlue (for Democrats) and WinRed (for Republicans).

“Gender gaps in campaign finance persist in the 2026 cycle. The average donation by women to congressional candidates is lower than the average donation by men. And as a percentage of unique campaign contributors, women are better represented as small-dollar contributors than as large-dollar contributors,” said CAWP Senior Scholar Kira Sanbonmatsu, the lead researcher of the Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2026 project. “These patterns are evident in both major political parties. But even taking into account these additional small-dollar donations, the total funds contributed by men exceed the total funds contributed by women.”

This disparity in average donation is apparent in both parties but is particularly pronounced among Republicans, where the average donation to Republican candidates by men is more than double the average donation given by women.

This new analysis combines itemized donations to candidates with ActBlue and WinRed donation filings reported by April 15, 2026. The WinRed and ActBlue additional filings include data on small contributions that were not included in the candidates’ itemized filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). All data are from OpenSecrets. Findings include:

• Women’s political giving to congressional candidates is more likely to take the form of smaller contributions compared with men’s political giving. But our analysis reveals that even when taking small-dollar donations into account, men’s political giving exceeds women’s in 2026 congressional races.
• Women have contributed 46% of all money contributed to Democratic congressional candidates; men have contributed 54% of all money contributed to Democratic congressional candidates.
• Women have contributed 30% of all money contributed to Republican congressional candidates; men have contributed 70% of all money contributed to Republican congressional candidates.
• The average donation to Democratic congressional candidates by women is $48; the average donation to Democratic congressional candidates by men is $87.
• The average donation to Republican congressional candidates by women is $39; the average donation to Republican congressional candidates by men is $106.
• Women are 62% of unique contributors giving $200 or less to Democratic congressional candidates; men are 38% of unique contributors giving $200 or less to Democratic candidates.
• Women are 45% of unique contributors giving $200 or less to Republican congressional candidates; men are 55% of unique contributors giving $200 or less to Republican candidates.
• Women are only 39% of unique contributors giving $1,000 or more to Democratic congressional candidates; men are 61% of unique contributors giving $1,000 or more to Democratic candidates.
• Women are only 25% of unique contributors giving $1,000 or more to Republican congressional candidates; men are 75% of unique contributors giving $1,000 or more to Republican candidates.
• The average donation to congressional candidates varies by chamber, party, and gender:
  • The average donation for U.S. House candidates is:
    • $72 average to Democratic men candidates
    • $71 average to Democratic women candidates
    • $70 average to Republican men candidates
    • $62 average to Republican women candidates
  • The average donation for U.S. Senate candidates is:
    • $53 average to Democratic men candidates
    • $58 average to Democratic women candidates
    • $65 average to Republican men candidates
    • $113 average to Republican women candidates

This analysis is based on a dataset of over 6.9 million contributions given in calendar year 2026 to major party candidates still running as of April 15, 2026. Candidate gender is from CAWP. Donor gender is estimated using the Catalist voter file. The Catalist models for estimating voter demographics are proprietary. They are based on information from the voter file, the U.S. Census, and other sources; 92% of all contributions were matched with the Catalist voter file. We are publishing this supplemental analysis as a standalone analysis from CAWP’s 2026 Women, Money, & Politics Watch website. Data visualizations for itemized donations only (without the supplemental WinRed/ActBlue data) are available here.

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Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2026 uses interactive data visualizations powered by Graphicacy that are downloadable and shareable; follow the story as it develops on the project landing page. Stay tuned for updates as new campaign finance data become available and find all CAWP data about women in election 2026 at Election Watch. Campaign finance data for the project come from OpenSecrets and voter demographic data are from Catalist.

This research is made possible thanks to the generosity and commitment of Pivotal. Critical funding support for Women, Money, & Politics Watch 2026 was provided by Michelle Mercer and Bruce Golden.